The final of the George King Handicap Cup was played between two teams from the same club; Rowhedge B & Rowhedge I. Rowhedge B got off to the quicker start thanks to Rik Jakes and Gary Cattermole winning the first doubles match. Rowhedge I then took the next four games to lead 4-1 on the night. James clawed one back for Rowhedge B, but it was the youngsters (Cameron Simpson, Chloe Andrews and Jared Chelski) who were victorious at the end of the night. Rowhedge I claimed a 7-2 victory over the Premier Division team.

St Peters Handicap Doubles Cup

This final was played between St James A (Premier Division) and Gt Horkesley B (Division One). Phil Smith and Felipe Rodriguez beat Steve Holland and Matt Rogers to give St James a 1-0 lead. Rogers and Pete Witton beat Rodriguez and John Hatley to level the scores. The match swung back in St James’ favour after Smith and Hatley beat Holland and Witton in straight sets. However, a pattern was developing as Gt Horkesley won the next game to level the match at 2-2. The next game proved to be vital, though, as St James won it 21-15 in the final set. This spurred them on and they took the next two games to win the final 5-2.

Kiltie Cup (Premier Division)

This final was played between Rowhedge B and Tollgate A. Tollgate took the first match with Annabelle Rodriguez and Colin Stallwood winning their doubles. Rowhedge then won the next four games, mirroring what Rowhedge I did to them in the George King Handicap Cup. Steve Pennell gave Tollgate hope, but James proved too strong for Rodriguez to win the winning game for Rowhedge. Rowhedge won the match 5-2.

John Kellet Cup (Division One) – Match report by John Andrews

Gt Horkesley B and Lawford A played the in the final of the John Kellet Cup. Lawford A beat Gt Horkesley B 7-3 in their first encounter of the season although it was closer in their second match with a draw. It was a close fought match with the first two matches going the distance, a deuce game winning the doubles. Keith Norman steadied the Lawford ship with a comfortable win against Matt Rogers and then the next doubles match was won by Lawford. There was then a tense match between Ken Lewis and Rob Wood; Ipswich based players who know each other’s games very well. A win for Lewis gave Horkesley the edge once again. Next on Norman vs. Steve Holland. Holland had won their encounter in the league but Norman took the first two very comfortably and at 10-6 in the third looked set for a straight win, but Holland took 6 points in a row to take the match to a fourth end and he duly took that game to set up a nail biting end. Nip and tuck for much of the way until Norman eased away to a 11-7 win. So into match 8. Rogers v Mike Emerson. Rogers had lost both encounters this season so faced an uphill task, however one off cup matches provide a different dynamic and pressure on both players. Emerson needed to win so was perhaps under more pressure despite having won their their two league encounters. Emerson took a 2 to 1 games lead and was just 2 points from victory in the fourth, but Rogers took that game then made the very best of starts in the fifth end. Emerson then never really looked like challenging. This enabled Rogers to wrap up a memorable win for Gt Horkesley B, who won 5-3.

Giles Bennett-Smith Cup (Division Two)

Rowhedge G played Dedham B in the final of the Giles Bennett-Smith Cup. Dedham stormed into a 4-0 lead, and only dropped two sets in the process. Rowhedge won the fifth game to give themselves a glimmer of hope. However, George Berry beat Mark Glenister in five sets to reach an unassailable lead. Dedham won 5-1.

Noel Underdown Cup (Division Three)

Lawford C won the Noel Underdown Cup due to St James E not being able to raise a team.

John Welham Cup (Division Four) – Match report by John Andrews

This match was contested between Tollgate F and Rowhedge F. Tollgate F had been extremely dominant in the league against their Rowhedge F opponents, winning 9-1 and 7-3. So they were firm favourites going into the final and they duly opened up a 2-0 lead. Jarek Sahaj took a very close three set win against Andy Huang to record a first win for Rowhedge, and this seemed to lift the team since they took the next two matches. Chloe Andrews beat Callum Wilkinson in four ends, which included some very high quality attacking rallies. A doubles win followed to give a 3-2 lead to Rowhedge. Toby Deng then levelled the match and, from there, it really felt like the match was going to go to a final deciding doubles. Jamie Morgan beat Wilkinson in four, but Huang struck straight back with a solid win against Andrews. The final doubles match was the decider. By now, both teams really did not know who was going to win this match. The Tollgate pair took the first end 11-7, but the Rowhedge pair worked on their tactics and were able to restrict the attack coming from their opponents to take the next three ends 11-8, 11-5, 11-7. Rowhedge K won 5-4. A well contested match and it demonstrates that in a one off cup final you can never be certain of the outcome.

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Tom Lewis - CDTTL Press Officer

Author: Thomas Lewis via Colchester Table Tennis League

Article Published: Friday 29th April 2016

Last Updated: Thursday 14th July 2016

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